Fire and police chief requests shut down at meeting

A recent work session meeting prompted a discussion between the board of aldermen and the fire chief. The discussion stemmed from the board of aldermen who, according to draft minutes of the meeting, voted in closed session that all city-owned vehicles are not to be taken home. The discussion at Tuesday night's meeting lasted approximately seven minutes until it was shut down by the city attorney, Deedra Nicholson.

 

On Tuesday, Sept. 9 Fire Chief Jason Taber was on the agenda to discuss vehicle and emergency after-hours calls.

 

Taber explained that that he does not receive on-call pay or emergency on-call pay and questioned if he has to be there, does not have a vehicle, whether he be receiving that pay. 

 

To clarify, Mayor Charry McCann asked, "Because your vehicle has to stay in city, you're asking for the same call back time for after hours emergency work, one hour of pay time plus actual time worked?"

 

Taber went on to state that he had always been told to keep his hours below 40 no matter what, yet he still has to come to town for calls, "I can't take off because I'm the only one."

 

The city administrator explained to the board that each employee will take one week during which they will be on call for any emergencies that happen. They must stay within range of cell phone for the week and must be no more than 30 minutes away. They receive 8 hours of comp time for that week when they are on call.

 

"Jason will work his 40 hours a week, and then he will clock in when he gets his on-call and then those hours are accumulated as comp time within that week because it's over 40 hours," stated City Administrator Trish Kruse.

 

Aldermen Calvin Perry inquired about the average call time, which was estimated to be around 2 hours.

 

Taber calculated that in 2024 alone he did 248 after hours calls. 

 

"So 248 calls at an average of 2 hours per call you're talking 500 hours or so that you did not charge the city for because you took the truck home?" Aldermen Perry asked.

 

The estimated rate of pay would have been $14,455.28 according to Taber's calculations.

 

After the board and Taber were discussing this for over seven minutes, City Attorney Deedra Nicholson chimed in with, "You guys can't talk about this in open, this whole thing."

 

Alderwoman Judi Colter asked, "So those need to go into closed session?"

 

Nicholson answered yes. Mayor McCann said, "I guess number three will also have to be postponed," referring to Police Chief-lost vacation hours.

 

The board moved on with the meeting without any motions to table or move these agenda items to closed session.

 

Old Business:

- Bill 1441 Ordinance 17080-City Organizational Chart - approved to become an ordinance

- Brush pickup - discussed for over 30 minutes with a decision of the final pickup will start October 20, 2025 which will be posted on utility bills, postpone the program until March regular council meeting for re-evaluation.

 

New Business:

- Proclamation-Constitution Week 2025 - Signed by mayor

- Police Department Pay Matrix - Capped police chief pay at $43.99

- Minutes

- Department Reports

- Financial Reports - More on this in future issues of the News as the city administrator commented on a freeze to parks department spending and "once we find the claim money and apply that, use the portion of the budgeted money for machinery equipment and vehicles to offset all those other negatives, parks will look much better."

- Request for Proposals-Audit services - use SCOCOG bid form for 2022-2023

- Bill #1447 Ordinance 1785-Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System Revenue Bond Series 2025 - first and second reading approved

- Bill #1448 Ordinance 1786-Utility Billing Procedures - first and second reading approved

- Authorized Signers-Municipal Court and Police Bond Bank Accounts and General and Electric Fund - made adjustments for an employee going on maternity leave

- Halloween Trick or Treat-date and time - set for 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31

- Weedkiller for Wastewater Department - Approve purchase for 30 gallons

- Police car repair - Approved repairs to be done at Morlan-Shell Ford for $1,088.70 after part is received as it's back ordered

The board then adjourned with no motion to go into closed session.